Sharing Life's Lessons on Living in this World and yet being Above it!

Disclaimer

Disclaimer 1: The author, AVIS, does not claim that he is the be-all, know-all and end-all of all that he shares based on experiences and learnings. AVIS has nothing against or for any religion. If the reader has a learning to share, most welcome. If the reader has a bone to pick or presents a view, which may affect the sentiments of other followers/readers, then this Page’s administrators may have to regrettably delete such a comment and even block such a follower. Disclaimer 2: No Thought expressed here is original though the experience of the learning shared may be unique. AVIS has little interest in either infringing upon or claiming copyright of any material published on this Page. The images/videos used on this Page/Post are purely for illustrative purposes. They belong to their original owners/creators. The author does not intend profiting from them nor is there any covert claim to copyright any of them.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Stay engaged with the present when facing Life’s storms

A great way to face any challenge in your Life is to find your
center and drop anchor! In other words, it simply means, do not allow the mind
to wander into the future with worry or go back to the past in grief or with
guilt.

Sometime
ago I found myself in a courtroom. I was in the dock, accused of cheating someone. The judge was a very fine man, very
methodical, very disciplined. He had a great sense of humor too. His one-liners
had everyone in splits – even rival parties presenting their cases in court
enjoyed a good laugh. My situation was hardly laughable though. I had no money
to repay the creditor who had filed the complaint against me. And it had become
apparent that I had to face the consequences of what the law prescribed in such
matters. If my petition was dismissed, I was likely to be arrested. And I had
nobody in that city who could stand guarantee for my bail application. Even so,
I remain engaged with the court proceedings – and heartily enjoyed the laughs
that the judge’s comments generated! I sat by the window. It was raining
heavily and it was windy too. The rain sprayed on my face and my shoulder,
driven by the winds, after landing on the court’s balcony railing. Interestingly,
I felt very peaceful as I sat there in that courtroom. The rain peppering my
face, the judge’s humorous one-liners, the method to the madness of one judge
having to deal with hundreds of cases in a day – all of this left me feeling
remarkable and inspired - even if it was ironical I was feeling so, given my
predicament!

Metaphorically, and in reality, a storm raged outside of me. But
deep within, I felt good, at peace with myself, and engaged in the moment. In
that moment, in the now, there was no fear, no anxiety, no worry and no guilt
or grief. It was surreal. It was magical.

That’s when I understood the meaning of the phrase, “It is
always peaceful in the eye of the storm.”The storms that
ravage our lives – a debilitating health condition, a torturous relationship
break-up, a business going bust, losing a reputation that’s painstakingly
built, the sudden death of someone you love deeply – fill us with worry, grief
and suffering. It may seem almost impossible not to worry or to grieve or to
suffer. But there lies the best kept secret about intelligent living. In the
now, when you are present, and engaged in the moment, there can be no worry.
There is no cause for grief. And there isn’t any suffering.

You
may wonder how this works. And if this really is true. Let me explain.

The
way Life operates is that none of us can control what is happening to us. Life
goes on happening. And all we can do is to respond to Life as it happens. Some
of the happenings in your Life may shock you and sock you. You can find a
million people to blame for your situation or you can even berate yourself for
your plight. You can argue with reality – asking why things have happened to
you! But be sure that all your fighting, all your resisting, will be completely
futile. What I have learned is that Life’s crises are there only to help us
find strength from within. That is the only place which is untouched by what
goes on outside and that’s where you will be in total peace and feel infinitely
secure! The human mind is like a large ship in the ocean of Life. When a storm
hits the high seas, an ordinary vessel will be tossed around and may even
drown. But modern day ships have stabilizers. They help the ship navigate deftly
through rough waters. Similarly, the human mind too can be stabilized by
training it to be present in the moment. When it is present in the now, the
mind is powerless. The mind works and thrives only in a yet-to-be-born future
or in a dead-and-gone past! That’s why worry, grief and suffering don’t affect
you in the present moment! And that’s how you, your true Self, can be peaceful,
despite the circumstances that you are placed in and despite the storms that
will often rip apart your material Life! Finding strength in
a crisis situation in Life really means letting go of the past and not worrying
about the future – while being aware that everything in Life is impermanent – including
Life’s storms!